Mittens
by The Nauti Dolphin
Summary: Halfhour ficlet. Stargazing isn't something only Hermione likes to do... R&R. Changed the title. :D


_If you think I own Harry Potter and your IQ were three points higher, you'd be a daffodil._

_Took me about a half-hour. I think it's mediocre, but wanted to post it anyway. Maybe I'll come back one day and fix it. Yeah, right._

_By the way, check out the C2. :D_

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**Mittens**

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"'Mione. 'Mione! You coming inside?" 

"No, that's alright. I'll stay here."

"Alright, then. Suit yourself. Come inside if you get cold."

She watched the retreating backs of Ron and Harry trudging up the sloping lawn towards the castle. Sometimes, for Hermione, there was nothing like having the time to watch the set lower and lower into the far-off mountains. She enjoyed these kinds of things whenever she could-they reminded her of how fast she was constantly moving and how hard she sometimes pushed herself. The slow, deliberate motion of the deep orange sun comforted her in a strange way that she herself didn't even fully understand.

But it was especially what came after that sunset that captivated all of her attentions. By the time the stars came out, she could almost guarantee that she was the only one still lying on the cold, hard grass. Whenever she could manage to do this, it was her time, all alone with only the stars to keep her company.

Unfortunately for her, she wasn't the only one. A little ways away, she heard a faint whistling sound. She propped herself up on her elbows only to find that someone else lying down by the lake's edge has also been staring up at the brilliantly lit heavens above.

Figuring that anyone who loved the stars as much as she must be worth talking to, she stood up and walked over to join them. Her bare feet softly brushed across the grass, grabbing the attention of Hermione's fellow stargazer. He propped himself on his elbows, staring up at Hermione. She knew the instant the moonlight silhouetted his perfect features that it was none other than Draco Malfoy.

"Malfoy? What're you doing here?" Hermione said as she plopped down into a sitting position, crossing her legs and furrowing her brow intently at Draco.

"I've as any right to be here as you," Draco said offhandedly, lying back down with his hands behind his head.

Hermione, still curious as to why he, of all people, would be there with her, she sprawled herself out on the ground next to him, saying, "Well, then, I'm sure you won't mind me joining you."

To this, Draco did not comment, but instead stared up intently as ever at the stars, trying to recognize some of the constellations he had learned in Astronomy. As hard as he tried, he couldn't ignore the fact of how nice it felt to have some warmth radiated from Hermione's body on this chillier-than-usual night.

He took his hands out from behind his head, fiddling with the gold monogrammed ring on his pinky finger. It wasn't a nervous habit, just more of something that he did when he was thinking, usually about something important.

Hermione interrupted these thoughts by saying, "I just love that smell."

Draco could tell, by the way she said it, that she was trying to have a conversation with her, expecting him to ask why she had said that. But, tonight, for some reason, he didn't feel much like protesting or being difficult, so he gave in. "What smell?"

"Oh, it's…I guess you could say it just smells like Hogwarts."

"So you're saying you _like_ the smell of mold?" He smiled to himself.

She let out a short, tinkling laugh, responding, "No, not like that. I mean, like the smoke from the chimneys, the musk of the ancient books, every brick in every corridor just bursting with history, its own individual story to tell. I guess it's more than a smell, maybe even more than a feeling. But whatever it is, I love it."

"Yeah," Draco answered vaguely, amazed at her. For someone who spent their nose in books and caught up on facts, she somehow had the ability to be strangely poetic. Draco liked to consider himself somewhat of a struggling poet, despite his large amounts of fortune. This gave him almost automatic respect for anyone who he could recognize as lyrically sensitive as he. Rather content, he began to whistle again.

Hermione looked up at the sky, unable to, but at the same time not wanting to, understand why it was that she felt so comfortable next to him. Deciding to just take it comfort without question, she refocused her gaze on the sky, Draco providing the soundtrack with his whistling talent. "It's so beautiful, isn't it?" she asked, marveling in the beauty of what was before her.

"Beautiful…" Draco complied, staring not at the sky but instead at her.

Hermione turned her gaze from the sky for a moment only to find Draco staring at her. She gave him a small smile and turned her face up again, asking him, "Don't you find it weird that we actually have something in common?"

Draco, who had also resumed his stargazing, replied, "I guess we were kind of bound to."

Hermione, glad to get something out of him, urged the conversation further. "What do you mean?"

"I guess…well, you've always got to expect the unexpected." He stretched his hands out along the cool, soft grass. He brushed up against her hand, enjoying the extreme contrast in the warmth she radiated.

He felt a shiver roll from his fingertips up through his spine, and he brought his wrist up to check his watch. The eerie green numbers told him it was half past midnight. He was getting rather cold anyway, so he decided to go inside. "I'm heading up to bed. You coming?"

"Actually, my fingers are becoming quite numb," Hermione responded as she stood up, grabbing her shoes in one hand. Draco took her free hand and rubbed it between his own, warming it up. The electric feeling was so great Hermione felt that her hands would never be cold again. He then took a pair of green mittens out of his pocket, placing them on her hands. A small "Thank you" was all she was able to murmur as the walked up towards the castle's front door.

As he held the giant door open for her, she walked as quietly as possible into the Entrance Hall, waiting for Draco to slowly coax the door shut with the least amount of squeaking possible. He looked up at her, saying, "Now, we wouldn't want anyone to catch you breaking curfew, would we?" Both of their faces broke in to smiles.

"No, we wouldn't. But, here," she said, as she reluctantly took off the mittens and handed them back to Draco.

"Keep them," he said with a generous smile, turning his back and heading towards the dungeons.

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_I hope you liked it! :D Review regardless._

_Charlotte ;)_

You said you read me like a book,

But the pages are all torn and frayed.


End file.
